Mr. Speaker, I need some clarity before I can actually answer that question. Is the Member talking about through divorce proceedings or custody proceedings, or is the Member talking about through child and family services?
If the Member is talking about services through child and family services where a child may be apprehended or placed in different custody, the grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, brothers, sisters and other persons qualify as extended family, and under child and family services we work with
the
extended
families,
including
the
grandparents, and where appropriate we can use the fostering process to actually have grandparents foster children.
Under child and family services we absolutely respect the role of extended families, including grandparents, and we work with those families to ensure that they have access to children and we support those visitations and/or placements as appropriate.